Lawmakers are considering legislation that would use eminent domain to remove the facility and turn it into a resilience hub.
WASHINGTON — DC officials are listening to residents concerned about a manufacturing facility in the Ivy City neighborhood.
Sebrena Rhodes has served as ANC Commissioner since 2020. She says residents have been complaining about health issues they believe are connected to the NEP manufacturing facility on Capitol Avenue Northeast.
National Engineering Products, or NEP, is a company that produces a sealant for the U.S. Navy. NEP has always said its facility is safe.
“It stinks. There’s a foul odor that comes out of the place. A lot of times when we do tours, we end up dizzy,” she said. “This place should not be there; it is spewing, emitting cancer-causing chemicals.”
On Thursday, Rhodes was joined by dozens of other Ward 5 residents to voice their support for new legislation that would allow the District to shut down the facility.
Earlier this year, the Council put forward a bill that would empower the District to enact eminent domain to shut down the facility.
“It is time that we said enough is enough,” said Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker.
Rhodes and other speakers say this is long overdue because the historical impact of the facility’s location can’t be ignored.
“It is a reflection of structural inequality in which some communities are expected to bear the burden and risk and be a sacrifice zone while others can be spared,” said environmental justice attorney Leslie Fields. “This is what environmental racism looks like in practice.”
In the facility’s place, a resilience hub is being proposed. The hub would provide year-round service such as health promotion, meeting spaces, emergency preparedness education, and workforce development.
We reached out to NEP about the closure demands from residents and were told no comment.